Help with planted plans.

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CCXGT

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Feb 20, 2014
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Liverpool, UK.
Long time no see.

Small bio, keeping fish for 4 years, kept 10G fresh fish only, kept 60G Africans, kept 10G reef. Both the African tank and Reef went bang and I'm shifting towards planted.



Sooooo, I'll just throw out the notes I've made regarding this new direction for me and I'd like some CONSTRUCTIVE criticism on everything.


Tank dimensions: 120 x 40 x 25 cm, I adore shallow tanks, and I want one.

31G / 120l, I want less maintenance and less water volume than my African tank.

Background: Frosted glass slightly opaque background, saw this stuff on Youtube and I like it.

Lighting: Not a clue, minimalistic LEDs on goose necks?

Filtration: Eheim 2215 classic, been using Fluval canisters for 3 years and I want to try their competition.

Seachem Matrix, Seachem Purigen, filter floss, etc...

Substrate: Bright white sand area in middle with two dirt areas on both sides, been looking up seperated substrates in planted tanks, I love the idea of a sandy area in the middle of the tank.

At least one piece of driftwood or one huge rock above the water level, again with Youtube, seeing shallow tanks with the hardscape protruding from the waters surface, looks great.

Stock list:
Torpedo Barb x5, wanted these guys since I took my first step into an LFS, THEY ARE A MUST.

Cory's x??

Cardinals x??


Plants: Haven't got this far. I'd like long and swoopy plants at the back reaching the surface and some grass in the front.



Anyways, let me know how much of an idiot I've been so far.

Cheers.
 
All sounds good except stocking. By torpedo barbs you mean roseline sharks/barbs? They get wayyyy to big for a 30 gal tank. Another thing.. planted tanks are far more maintenence than any fish only setup. Lots more variables... anything grass like in the foreground is going to require a high tech setup (not always but usually). If you want something simple and low maintenance than maybe just stick to low light plants with a low light rig. Stock appropriately and go easy on the ferts. Cardinals and Cory's sound perfect. May a dwarf cichlid or 2 as a center piece?

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All sounds good except stocking. By torpedo barbs you mean roseline sharks/barbs? They get wayyyy to big for a 30 gal tank. Another thing.. planted tanks are far more maintenence than any fish only setup. Lots more variables... anything grass like in the foreground is going to require a high tech setup (not always but usually). If you want something simple and low maintenance than maybe just stick to low light plants with a low light rig. Stock appropriately and go easy on the ferts. Cardinals and Cory's sound perfect. May a dwarf cichlid or 2 as a center piece?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Aquarium Advice mobile app
Too big size-wise or bio-wise?
 
Both, mainly size, they can hit 5-6" I believe, they like to swim about and like a group.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Aquarium Advice mobile app
 
Roselines need at least a 4' tank. They are active swimmers. I have 4 of them in my 55g. That's the bare min size tank I'd use as they can get hefty as mature fish. I stopped at 4 once I saw how quickly they are growing.

You might look at Featherfin Rainbows for a smaller, yet quirky group of fish. The males make quite a display for the girls.

There are other peaceful Barbs. I love Cherry Barbs. The males' color gets intense when they are fed well and have girls to show off for.
 
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